Flaming Lips at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh

I first saw the Flaming Lips live in 1999 when they supported Mercury Rev at Nottingham Rock City. I loved the Rev but the Lips blew them away that night.

I saw them again today, 26 years later! I’m pretty sure 90s me would have been floored by the show this evening. It was a masterclass in showmanship and audience building by Wayne Coyne, amid a superb stage production that was as much theatre as gig: lasers, giant robots, aliens, rainbows and enormous amounts of confetti.

Add to this the seminal Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots album played in its entirety, followed by a second half of greatest hits, all culminating with a mesmerising performance of Race for the Prize, and what you have is arguably the perfect gig.